Polar Bear

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IV. Conservation Management Strategy USFWS Manage human-polar bear conflicts With reduced ice extent, increasing numbers of polar bears with poorer body condition than observed historically are making their way to shore earlier in the spring and staying later in the fall (Obbard et al. 2006). Once on land, polar bears are unable to reach their preferred food, ice seals, so they primarily fast (Ramsay and Hobson 1991) or scavenge (Miller et al. 2004). Simultaneously, reductions in summer sea ice will allow expanded development opportunities and growing human activity in polar bear habitat (Vongraven et al. 2012). These factors increase the likelihood of human-bear conflicts with negative consequences for both humans and bears. Minimizing lethal take of polar bears from humanbear conflicts, including take from industrial, research, or other activities, contributes to polar bear conservation over the long term (Fundamental Goal 3) and in the near term, protects opportunities for continued subsistence harvest (Fundamental Goal 4). From a demographic perspective, wildlife populations are affected by the total level of direct human-caused removals. For polar bears, there are several types of removals that have different causes and different value to humans. Consistent with provisions in the ESA and MMPA, this Plan recognizes the importance of providing opportunities for subsistence harvest as an inherently important component. Lethal take of polar bears incidental to human-bear conflicts, industrial operations, or research activities should be minimized because they have negative implications for the conservation of subpopulations in the United States including potentially reducing opportunities for subsistence harvest. Provisions to minimize these other sources of take will continue to be implemented within the existing regulatory frameworks (e.g., the USFWS Incidental Take Program under the MMPA, for industrial activities) or review processes (e.g., the USGS, USFWS, and ADF&G Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, for research activities). Examples of these ongoing efforts include partnerships with the oil and gas industry over the past 30 years of operations on the North Slope, and polar bear patrols led by the North Slope Borough. To build on these efforts, we will develop an overarching strategy and best management practices to prevent, monitor, and manage human-polar bear conflicts in the United States. Those practices will include rapid response plans for situations where a large number of hungry bears are stranded on shore. We will work with local communities and with industry to develop human-polar bear interaction and safety plans that include attractant management (to minimize bears being attracted to human communities for food), bear awareness training, safety procedures for bear encounters, proper bear hazing techniques, and reporting requirements. And we will work with communities to implement the components of those plans such as best practices for garbage management at households and community landfills, bear-proof food-storage options, and location of whale bone piles to reduce food attractants that draw polar bears into human communities. We will continue to support local capacity for polar bear patrols and other management efforts directed towards residents and visitors. Specifically, we will expand the scope and improve the effectiveness of 44 Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan
IV. Conservation Management Strategy community polar bear patrols through consistent funding, standardized methods, and better reporting of data on interactions through our work with the Range States Conflict Working Group and the Polar Bear Human Interactions Management System (PBHIMS database). Conservation and recovery actions 1. Develop and communicate a strategy to prevent, monitor, and manage human-polar bear conflicts for the subpopulations in the United States with input from local residents, conservation partners, and invited experts. 2. Develop and communicate response plans for the subpopulations in the United States to address the prospect of increasing numbers of hungry bears on shore with input from local residents, conservation partners, and invited experts. 3. Develop and implement human-polar bear interaction and safety plans for United States communities with polar bears, to include attractant management, bear awareness training, safety procedures for bear encounters, proper hazing techniques, and reporting requirements. 4. Reduce attractants in United States communities with polar bears, through development and distribution of best practices for garbage management and food storage. 5. Improve the scope and effectiveness of United States community polar bear patrols, through increased funding, standardized methods, and better reporting of data on interactions. Total cost: approximately $1,282,000 per year. Collaboratively manage subsistence harvest The co-management of polar bears by Alaska Native and Federal partners is supported under domestic laws and the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, recognizing the importance of co-management for maintaining the ability of Alaska Native people to meet nutritional and cultural needs, mitigating human-polar bear conflicts, monitoring subsistence harvest, and ensuring subsistence harvest rates that are consistent with the management and conservation goals described in Section III of this Plan. In this Plan, we adopt a framework for identifying limits on total human-caused removals. The goals of this framework include: to ensure that removals do not have a negative effect on population persistence, thus increasing the likelihood that recovery is possible once climate change has been addressed; and to provide long-term opportunities for subsistence use of polar bears by Alaska Natives. A co-management system between Alaska Native, Federal, and other partners provides the foundation for this framework and its success. This includes the ability to monitor take and collect biological samples from harvested polar bears (e.g., through the USFWS Marking, Tagging, and Reporting Program and the North Slope Borough) and the ability to adjust harvest rates towards adherence with the principles in Section III of this Plan (e.g., through the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Agreement and the Inupiat-Inuvialuit Agreement). Because both United States polar bear subpopulations are shared with other countries, continued cooperation with international partners is necessary for responsible management and conservation. The framework for management of human-caused removals, including subsistence harvest, is founded on three principles. First, human-caused removals are managed at the subpopulation level by the appropriate co-management partners, taking into account factors specific to that subpopulation (e.g., traditional practices, management objectives, and local conditions). Second, annual removal levels are state-dependent with respect to population size (and by extension, carrying capacity) and intrinsic growth rate. Thus, the framework is intended to account for multiple ecological mechanisms through which ecological change (e.g., loss or gain of sea-ice habitat, decrease or increase in prey availability) and other factors could affect polar bears. Third, a three-level system identifies thresholds at which increasing efforts are taken to minimize the effects of human-caused removals (Fig. 8). Under the three-level system, graduated management and conservation actions are tied to preestablished thresholds. Above the upper threshold, the subpopulation shows a resilient intrinsic rate of growth and the carrying capacity provides a large buffer against the risk of extirpation (Fig. 8, green zone). In this first zone, ESA and MMPA criteria regarding take are met, and total human-caused removals are managed using a state-dependent strategy. It may be possible to meet conservation goals for subpopulations in this zone with a relatively low investment in monitoring, for example, with longer intervals between monitoring efforts. A subpopulation would fall into the second zone (i.e., between the upper and lower thresholds) if the carrying capacity, population size, or intrinsic Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan 45
Page 1 and 2: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pola
Page 3 and 4: Polar Bear Conservation Management
Page 5 and 6: Contents Executive Summary.........
Page 7 and 8: Executive Summary Today, polar bear
Page 9 and 10: and connectivity in each recovery u
Page 11 and 12: I. Background I. BACKGROUND Polar b
Page 13 and 14: I. Background the extent and charac
Page 15 and 16: II. Conservation Strategy II. CONSE
Page 17 and 18: III. Management Goals and Criteria
Page 21 and 22: B. Conservation Criteria under the
Page 43 and 44: IV. Conservation Management Strateg
Page 45: IV. Conservation Management Strateg
Page 55 and 56: V. Literature Cited V. LITERATURE C
Page 57 and 58: V. Literature Cited National Marine
Page 59 and 60: V. Literature Cited Wade, P.R. 1998
Page 61 and 62: VI. Glossary Population. A group of
Page 63 and 64: Appendix A—Background APPENDIX A
Page 65 and 66: Appendix A—Background bears are f
Page 67 and 68: Appendix A—Background Sea ice is
Page 69 and 70: Appendix A—Background et al. 2015
Page 71 and 72: Appendix A—Background of the Conv
Page 73 and 74: Appendix A—Background Polar Bears
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Page 77 and 78: Appendix A—Background overall. Th
Page 79 and 80: Appendix A—Background mitigate im
Page 81 and 82: Appendix A—Background of subsiste
Page 83 and 84: Appendix A—Background Blank, J.J.
Page 85 and 86: Appendix A—Background Environment
Page 87 and 88: Appendix A—Background Lunn, N.J.,
Page 89 and 90: Appendix A—Background Rode, K.D.,
Page 91 and 92: Appendix A—Background Voorhees, H
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Appendix B—Specific Conservation
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Appendix C—Population Dynamics an
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Polar Bear

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